National Groups Oppose South Carolina ‘Some Girls’ Censorship
One parent called an award-winning young adult novel "smut"-- and her complaint was enough to have it removed from a summer reading list for honors students.
Florida Parents Want to Ban Books They Say ‘Promote’ Islam
Parents in Florida are upset that third graders will be reading books they say promote Islam.
Graphic Novel Isn’t Banned– But Isn’t in the School Library
A graphic novel was challenged in a New Mexico high school. A review committee voted to keep it. So why isn't the book on the shelves? A local reporter dug into the story.
Texas Library Battle Over LGBT Books
Residents of one Texas town want two LGBT books removed from the children's section of a public library. That is unconstitutional. But a plan to move the books to the adult section is similarly problematic.
Celebrating the Right to Read in Asheville
The Buncombe school district has decided--once and for all--that one parent's objection to the novel The Kite Runner shouldn't prevent other students from reading it.
NH Governor Vetoes ‘Parental Notification’ Bill
New Hampshire governor Maggie Hassan vetoed a bill that would have forced teachers to notify parents about any course material “used for instruction of human sexuality or human sexual education."
Keeping the Kite Runner in North Carolina
A North Carolina district should stick to its policy guidelines and keep The Kite Runner in an honors English class.
‘Parental Notification’ in New Hampshire
A New Hampshire bill to require parental notification about "human sexuality or human sexual education" topics in schools deserves to be vetoed.
A Book Censor for North Carolina’s Board of Education?
Has the governor of North Carolina nominated a book censor to the state Board of Education?
Victory for Of Mice and Men in Idaho
Good news: The Coeur d'Alene school board voted to keep John Steinbeck's classic novel in the classroom.
Keeping Steinbeck in the Classroom in Coeur d’Alene
Is John Steinbeck's classic Of Mice and Men too controversial for a classroom of ninth graders? That's what some in an Idaho town are saying.
Asheville: Where Trusting Teachers Isn’t a Novel Idea
Don’t you hate it when one person ruins it for the rest of us? Teachers of Asheville, your school district has your back. So do we.
Parent Attempts to Censor The Kite Runner in Asheville
Can one parent effectively get a book banned from an entire classroom? That's exactly what's happening in one North Carolina town.
Challenge to Absolutely True Diary Shut Down in Brunswick, NC
A grandparent tries--yet again--to remove Sherman Alexie's award-winning novel from a school in North Carolina.
Waterloo Schools Violate District Policy To Pull Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie's award-winning young adult novel is challenged yet again-- but this time the school district violated its own policy by pulling the book without a formal review.
Whose Books Are Banned?
The ALA's list of the top 10 challenged and banned books includes plenty of familiar names, and teaches some larger lessons about diversity in literature.
Connecticut District Removes Perks of Being A Wallflower From Curriculum
A review committee in Wallingford, Ct. decided to keep a popular young adult novel in the English curriculum. But the superintendent overruled that decision. Does his decision make legal or educational sense?
An Acclaimed Graphic Novel…Or Child Porn? Palomar Under Scrutiny In New Mexico
A parent complains that an acclaimed graphic novel on the shelves at a New Mexico high school library is really child pornography. How will the school respond?
Charlotte County History Textbook Challenge Fails
Local Tea Party activists fail in their efforts to remove world history textbooks they see as 'Islamic indoctrination.'
ACT! for America Claims History Textbooks Promote Islam — NCAC Responds
Who gets to decide how history is taught? ACT! for America, a grassroots political advocacy group fighting "Islamofascism," is attempting to exert control over World History in Charlotte County, FL. NCAC has responded.
Curatorial Judgment or Viewpoint Discrimination? NCAC Responds to ‘Rush Revere’ in Ohio
Can curatorial decisions about what belongs on library shelves, museum walls, or classrooms ever constitute censorship? It’s a blurry line that a children’s specialist in Ohio’s Greenville Public Library may have crossed when rejecting two donated Rush Limbaugh books.
Colorado Battle Over ‘Reviewing’ AP History Ends–But Others Just Starting
A Colorado school district has dropped a plan to 'review' an AP History framework that conservatives claim is "sharply left-leaning." But this fight over how to teach history isn't over by a long shot.
How Chicago Public Schools Dumped Persepolis
Newly released documents show that the 2013 decision by Chicago Public Schools to remove Marjane Satrapi's popular graphic novel from the district's schools was just as dubious and censorious as it first appeared.
Censors Never Sleep: On Judy Blume’s Compassionate Legacy
To advocate on behalf of those who cannot speak, sometimes it's necessary to understand what it feels like to be silenced. Judy Blume is a living testament to this very truth, and, for that, we salute her today, on her birthday.
“Community Standards” in Highland Park: An Invitation to Censorship Controversies
Should "community standards" play a part in what is taught in the classroom? This is the question we asked Highland Park, Tx. school officials in a February 6 letter about new proposals to deal with controversies over certain reading materials.
Top 10 Banned Books that Changed the Face of Black History
Black History Month is as good a time as any to remember that some of the most frequently banned, censored or challenged books were written by African-American authors.
Effort to Ban Toni Morrison Classic Fails in Arizona
Gilbert, Arizona was a censorship flashpoint last year, when the school board tried to remove pages from a biology textbook. This year they beat back an effort to remove the classic novel Beloved from an AP reading list.
Two Wins for Free Speech in Delaware
Good news from Delaware: One school district dropped a plan to limit students' access to certain books, and in another district the effort to alter health curriculum in accord with religious objections appears to have failed.
First Amendment, Civil Liberties Groups Condemn Proposed Policy Changes in Virginia
Hanover School District’s Fix Could Actually Make Things Worse NEW YORK, January 13, 2015 — The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is cautioning school officials in Hanover County, VA that policy changes intended to reduce complaints about instructional materials could actually do the opposite. At a school board meeting tonight, three changes to board policies are being mulled over in response to controversies surrounding the use [...]
NCAC Writes to Hanover, VA: School District’s Fix Could Actually Make Things Worse
School officials resisted a challenge to a documentary film. But their new policies on instructional materials, while intended to reduce complaints, could actually do the opposite--giving would-be censors more power over what is taught in class.
First Amendment Groups Say No to Proposed Book Rating Policy in Appoquinimink
National Coalition Against Censorship Contact: Peter Hart 212.807.6222 // c: 732.266.4932 // [email protected] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: First Amendment Groups Say No to Proposed Book Rating Policy in Appoquinimink NEW YORK, January 12, 2015 — The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is urging Delaware's Appoquinimink School District against adopting potentially restrictive book assignment and checkout policy. The district’s new system proposes to [...]
NCAC to Appoquinimink: Don’t Adopt Restrictive Book Policies!
Update: Victory for KRRP! The Appoquinimink School District has chosen not to implement new rules that would have allowed parents to sign forms barring their children from reading anything deemed too “mature.”
NCAC to Indian River, DE: Don’t Censor Health Curriculum
UPDATE: After receiving NCAC's letter, pastor and school board member Shaun Fink has struck back against NCAC. Contrary to his earlier public statements, Fink now claims that he never called for the exclusion of materials on LGBT content or STD, HIV, and pregnancy prevention. At December 2's health curriculum subcommittee meeting, he also characterized NCAC's letter as a form of intimidation for the [...]
Warring Parents in Highland Park Disagree over Educational Policy; NCAC Intervenes
NCAC is joined by the American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the National Council of Teachers of English, PEN American Center, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators in a follow-up letter sent to the Highland Park Independent School District in TX. In the letter, we urge [...]
Removal First, Review Second? NCAC Questions Handling of Challenge to “Black Swan Green”
Today, NCAC was joined by the American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression (ABFFE), the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (ALA), and PEN America in a letter sent to the Kings Canyon Unified School District in Reedley, CA. In the letter, the signatories expressed [...]
Proposal to Identify “Potentially Objectionable Content” is Certainly Objectionable
A call to "reject any proposal to restrict the curriculum of students to accommodate the views, values and preferences of some, and instead to rely on the professional judgment of educators."
Third Time’s the Charm? NCAC Responds to Red-Flagging Policy in WI School District
NCAC and other free speech organizations sent a letter to the Waukesha School District in regard to efforts made to remove Looking for Alaska by John Green, Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini in classrooms and libraries, and to reject the idea of "red-flagging books that deal with sex, rape, extreme violence and brutality, and animal cruelty." In a previous [...]
Free Speech Groups Urge School District to Reinstate “The Fault in Our Stars” to Middle School Libraries
NCAC along with seven other other free speech organizations sent a letter to the Riverside Unified School District urging the School Board to reinstate The Fault in Our Stars by John Green to middle school libraries. A reconsideration committee voted to remove the book after a parent of a middle school student raised objections to the novel's language and sexual content. The [...]
Riverside Schools Want Kids to Think They’re Immortal
Author John Green’s work has once again come under the censorship chopping block, this time in Riverside, California. His award-winning love story, The Fault in our Stars, was taken out of middle school libraries because the novel’s subject matter involves two terminally-ill teens who use crude language and have sex. “I just didn't think it was appropriate for an 11-, [...]
“Persepolis” Under Attack at Glenwood High School; School Board to Meet Tonight (Update: Victory!)
Update: The School Board voted unanimously to keep Persepolis in the 12th grade English IV curriculum in Glenwood High School. In a letter sent to the Ball-Chatham Board of Education today, NCAC and other free-speech organizations urged the Board to reinstate Marjane Satrapi's acclaimed Persepolis to the 12th grade English IV curriculum in Glenwood High School. The Board will meet [...]